When encountering word problems, where do we begin? Any word problem will need to be read, perhaps a few times. In reading, you need to sift through the information to find the key parts.
*Note: For help with symbols be sure to check out our symbols sheet. To find this, click here.
Let’s learn how to find those key parts!
1. What is the word problem asking you to find? On the first read, you are simply trying to decide what the problem is about. The main clue to look for is a question being asked. Do not try to solve a problem, until you know what question it is asking.
2. What do you know? On the second read, you want to pull out all the numbers defined.
3. Is their extra information you do not need? On the third read, you want to see if they threw in any clues that are actually red herrings (irrelevant information)!
4. Did you forget anything? Read just one more time once you complete the steps above.
5. What formula or process will help you find the answer to the question you discovered on your first read? Now that you know what you are solving, the numbers you need, and have removed anything extraneous, you are ready to solve! At this point, you will rely on past information. You need to use what YOU know. This may be from a week’s reading, or information from a previous module or course. This is where you take the clues you gathered and put them to use.
Looking up information is totally fine!! Once you know the process, you can plug in the numbers you needed. This may involve understanding symbols, sketching a drawing of the problem, or re-reading your chapters for the week. That’s okay! No one masters or memorizes every method on the first try.
Let’s walk through this practice example!
Tyrese the T-rex likes to dance. He competes in 52 dino dance competitions each year. In competing, he has 3 dance partners per competition. He makes on average 41 new dino friends per year. How many dinos does Tyrese the T-rex dance with during the competitions?
1. What is the word problem asking you to find?
- How many dinos does Tyrese the T-rex dance with during the competitions?
2. What do you know?
- Tyrese competes in 52 dino dances each year
- Tyrese has 3 dance partners per competition
- Tyrese makes an average of 41 friends per year
3. Is their extra information you do not need?
- Since the problem is asking about dance partners, NOT friends, this information is extra: Tyrese makes an average of 41 friends per year
4. Did you forget anything?
- Tyrese likes to dance, but this seems like extra information too.
5. What formula or process will help you find the answer to the question you discovered on your first read?
- Multiplying the amount of competitions by dance partners will help us solve.
- 52 competitions ∗ 3 dance partners /competition = 156 dance partners total
Try it out for yourself!
Example One
Harriett owns an ice cream franchise. They wish to purchase 6 new trucks by the end of the year. To accomplish this goal, they will need an average of 5 ice cream sold per day. Describe the central tendency calculations for the following data. Harriett gathered data from two weeks of sales, regarding the number of ice cream sold daily on their ice cream truck. They found the information in the chart below. What is the average mean number of ice cream sold on the weekend?
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 31 |
| 5 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 41 |
Example One Solution
1. What is the word problem asking you to find?
This problem has two parts!
- “Describe the central tendency calculations for the following data.”
- “What is the average mean number of ice cream sold on the weekend?”
2. What do you know?
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 31 |
| 5 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 41 |
3. Is their extra information you do not need?
- For central tendency, we do not need to know their business goals.
- “They wish to purchase 6 new trucks by the end of the year. To accomplish this goal, they will need an average of 5 ice cream sold per day.”
- To apply the information, we would utilize this in comparison to current sales.
4. Did you forget anything?
- “Harriett gathered data from two weeks of sales, regarding the number of ice cream sold daily on their ice cream truck.”
- This is important when considering how many numbers were gathered and understanding how it is broken down on the chart. .
5. What formula or process will help you find the answer to the question you discovered on your first read?
“Describe the central tendency calculations for the following data.” Central Tendency is described with Mean, Median, and Mode.
- Mean: All numbers added/Total. The mean is 10.3571428571429
- Median: Center value. The median is 4
- Mode: Most repeated number. The mode is 2
“What is the average mean number of ice cream sold on the weekend?” To find this, we find the mean of the weekend days of Saturday and Sunday.
- Mean: All numbers added/Total. The mean is 28.25
Way to go! If you would like to brush up on central tendency, be sure to check out our resource guide linked here.
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